Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 15, 2000Volume 29, Number 2



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Philosopher Stephan Körner, taught
at Yale and at Bristol University

Eminent philosopher Stephan Körner, who served on the Yale faculty for more than a decade, died at his home in Bristol, England, on Aug. 17.

Professor Körner, who was 86, commited suicide with his wife, Edith Körner, 79, who had recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Stephan Körner held a joint appointment in the philosophy departments at Yale and Bristol University in England before retiring from the former in 1984.

He was a leading scholar in the theory of knowledge and the philosophies of science and mathematics. Also an authority on Kant, he wrote an introduction to the philosopher in a book titled "Kant," published in 1955. His many subsequent books included "Conceptual Thinking," which explored the concept of inexactness, "The Philosophy of Mathematics," "Observation and Interpretation" and "What is Philosophy?"

Professor Körner was also noted in his field for his concept of "theoretical incommensurability," which describes how two contradictory theories can be held on a particular subject without either being false.

Born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, in 1913 Professor Körner received a Doctor of Law degree from Charles University in Prague in 1935. He fled to England in 1939 when the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia and fought in France during World War II as a member of the exiled Czech army. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1944 from Cambridge University, where he studied under Richard Braithwaite.

Professor Körner taught at the University of Bristol from 1947 until his retirement in 1979. While there, he served as head of the philosophy department, dean of the Faculty of Arts and pro-vice chancellor. In 1970 he became, by special arrangement, a tenured visiting professor at Yale.

The philosopher was a former president of the International Union for History and Philosophy and the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. His numerous honors include an honorary doctorate from Graz University in Austria and election as a fellow of the British Academy.

His wife, Edith, had served as chief magistrate of the City of Bristol and chaired the Körner Commission for computerization of the National Health Service. The Körners are survived by their daughter and son-in-law, Ann Altman Ph.D. '74 and Yale scientist Sidney Altman of Hamden, Connecticut; their son and daughter-in law, Tom and Wendy Körner of Cambridge, England; and four grandchildren.


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